


We found love in a.... grocery store?

by consultingrogers



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: M/M, Meet-Cute, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers, Steve Needs a Hug, bucky is a sap, his name isn't said but you know it's him, i don't know anything abt working at Walmart but I do know how it is late at night as a customer so, indirect mention of tony stark and it's not good, kinda??, sharon is in this for two seconds
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-23
Updated: 2016-06-23
Packaged: 2018-07-16 18:56:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7280704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/consultingrogers/pseuds/consultingrogers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bucky takes the graveyard shift at Walmart, thinking it'd be uninteresting. Boy was he wrong. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>based off these prompts:</p>
<p>"You’ve been staring at the same tub of ice cream for about 30 minutes straight….are you okay??"</p>
<p>"You’ve been wandering around at Walmart for awhile and I’m starting to get concerned…are you okay? Can I help you?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	We found love in a.... grocery store?

**Author's Note:**

> hi! this is just a little one shot to get the juices flowing so I can jump into updating my main fic and getting started on my big bang one at well.  
> unedited and wrote on a whim.  
> i'd really appreciate it if you read [my main fic](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4593333) tbh....

Bucky had been working at Walmart for a year now. He's heard his fair share of weird stories from his coworkers but he'd never experienced anything remotely crazy. Sure, he'd get some people paying in nothing but coupons or even people paying in nothing but change (which is understandable, he wasn't going to judge someone's life, but it was a little difficult). He's never worked the graveyard shift though. Until now.

"Hey Bucky! Do you mind switching with me?" His coworker, a nice girl named Sharon, tentatively asked. They've spoken a few times, worked mainly the same shifts, but they were merely acquaintances. "It's just... My aunt isn't doing good and I'd really like to go see her. Fury said he'd let me take a day off if I work tomorrow, but I can't work a night shift because I already got a plane ticket for that evening. Would you be up to taking it and I'll take the morning? I'll also owe you one?"

How could Bucky say no? And that's how he found himself coming into work the next day at ten minutes to midnight, drinking coffee. He wasn't expecting much and he was right, there was hardly anyone there. After ringing up only one person in the span of an hour, he was told to go stock.

That's when He walked in. Bucky had never seen someone who could look so beautiful with red eyes and dark circles under them, wearing a baggy, paint stained sweatshirt with equally paint stained joggers. He had been fixing the display by the door and stopped to give his best smile. "Welcome to Walmart!"

The small blond male just gave Bucky a tiny, polite smile before quickly walking past him and dodging into an aisle.

"He's definitely high," Bucky muttered to himself.

 

 

 

 

  
An hour went by and Bucky had moved around the entire store, seeing that same man almost everywhere he went. He didn't have any items with him, but he did have earbuds in his ears now. Bucky wouldn't admit that he was following him but if it came up, he'd say he thought he was suspicious. And he was because, really, who walks around Walmart for an hour at 2am? Eventually Bucky lost the guy by the gardening section and he ultimately decided to go back to doing his job.

Another hour passed and Bucky was bored out of his mind. He only had one cart left of food items to put out before it was time to go through the aisles and see how bad the shelves were messed up. Freezer stuff first, Bucky made his way to the back of the store, leaning his upper body over the cart and softly humming to himself. He looked over and found empty aisles until he reached the ice cream one, where Cute Blond was standing. It looked like he had been there a while, staring into the freezer.

If Bucky didn't suspect he was crying, he would've laughed. He slowly made his way down to the other male, pretending like he was looking for an item. When he got close, he waved his hand out in front of the blond, who jumped, wiped his face, and pulled his earbuds out in one quick movement. Bucky raised his eyebrows.

"Do you need help with something? I couldn't help but notice you've been wandering around for a while...."

"N-No," the man managed, voice deeper than Bucky expected it to be but it was obvious he'd been crying for a while. He grabbed the ice cream tub he was staring at and started to take off, but Bucky blocked his path.

"Are you okay?" The answer was silence, then a tense nod. He finally met Bucky's eyes and Bucky held his breathe. There was so much sadness in his gorgeous blue eyes, and Bucky was always a sucker for sad blue eyes.

"Look. I know I'm a stranger but if you need to talk to someone, I'm all ears. My name is Bucky." The blond raised his eyebrow in amusement, cracking a small smile.

"Your name is Bucky?" His voice was so small, like he couldn't manage anything above a whisper.

Bucky nodded, motioning for him to walk with him. "I know. It sounds silly. My middle name is Buchanan and that's where Bucky comes from. My first name is James but only my dad calls me that."

The man nodded and followed Bucky, cradling the ice cream tub to his chest. "Steve."

"Well nice to meet you, Steve. To what does this fine establishment owe the privilege of your presence?"

"Can't a guy just want ice cream and vodka?" Steve lost his smile but joked anyway and stopped by the alcohol aisle, grabbing said alcohol before returning to Bucky.

"Sure but at," he stopped to check his watch, "3:30am? There's gotta be something else. So tell me, Stevie. Sad movie? Was it Titanic? Toy Story 3? Oh! I know. It was Bob Ross: Beauty is Everywhere right? He always gets me with his little trees or his happy clouds."

Steve chuckled but shook his head, holding his items tighter. "It's um.... Well I thought he was my boyfriend and things were going good for two years. Until earlier this week, when he took me to a fancy dinner to tell me he's getting married and "it's been fun, Rogers, but it's time to get serious!"" He mocked and rolled his eyes. "He told me his fiancé, Pepper, didn't appreciate him having someone on the side. So I keyed the side of his expensive sports car and up until today, I was too angry to be sad."

Bucky huffed and clutched the shopping cart handle so tight his knuckles turned white.

"What a fucking piece of shit. You're better off without that scumbag, Steve."

Steve just huffed and shrugged, staying quiet as they walked down the next few aisles with Bucky ranting and raving about that guy. It's true evil that someone could be with Steve and not treat him like he deserved the world, which he does.

"You know, honestly, I thought you were high when you walked in here. Now I think you just need to get high." Steve snorted a laugh and shook his head, finally making it up to the registers. Bucky quickly opened a register just to check Steve out, his heart aching when he gave him twenty bucks with a shaky hand.

"It was nice talking to you, Bucky. You really cheered me up."

"You too, Steve. It was honestly boring before you showed up."

They exchanged smiles and Steve was about to say goodbye before Bucky chimed in.

"Hey, um, if you ever need to talk again... I'm still willing to listen. If you want." He quickly scribbled his name and number on the back of Steve's receipt, then passed it off with a shy smile.

"I'd like that."

 

 

~ 

 

  
The Walmart was quiet and dingy, a lot changed since Bucky had quit almost two years ago. Now he was climbing up the chain at the bank he currently worked in. Steve was still a freelance artist but his work made it into the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and he had several people saying he'd go place. They had been dating since a month after that fateful encounter on Bucky's graveyard shift.

"Buckyyyy," Steve whined, trying to pull his arm back. Bucky woke Steve up just to drag him into Walmart in the dead of night, still in their raggedy pajamas and Steve's hair sticking up in all sorts of places.

"Come on, Steve."

"Bucky, what could possibly be so important that you need to get me out of bed to go to Walmart?"

He just let Bucky take him wherever, rubbing his eyes since they burned from the harsh fluorescent lights. They stopped in the ice cream section, and stood almost directly in the middle, facing the freezer.

"What the hell, Bu---"

"Steve Rogers, it was in front of this very freezer exactly two years ago where I saw you crying and came to talk to you, which was the best decision of my life. I've already thanked the person who switched shifts with me so I'd have the graveyard shift because without her, I would have never met you."

Steve furrowed his eyebrows, looking around before Bucky took his hand and kissed it.

"Your previous relationship, which ended right before we met, last two years but that asshole said goodbye to the most precious thing he ever had and I'm grateful because he didn't deserve you and it lead to us meeting. Steve, you are the single most important thing in my life and I don't know where I'd be if it wasn't for you crying in front of these ice cream tubs."

Bucky slowly got down on one knee and Steve squeezed his hand so tight, his free one coming up to cover his mouth.

"Two years ago, some idiot told you that he needed to stop seeing you because he was getting married. Well.... It's been two years and I may be some idiot...."

He pulled out a little box and looked up at Steve with all the adoration he could muster.

"But this idiot knows that when you have the best, you never let that go. So will you marry me, Stevie?"

Steve was once again crying in the ice cream aisle but this time he had a ring on his finger and someone to cry with.

**Author's Note:**

> come scream with me on [tumblr](http://queersteverogers.tumblr.com)


End file.
